Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

ROOFTOP

He had been lying awake for what seemed to him to be forever, before he got up and walked into the common room. He'd barely slept since the last battle. Well, he'd slept next to nothing at all, to tell the truth, perhaps dozed for five minutes in front of the fire before, and perhaps another five minutes an hour or so ago. It was now actually at the point where he was so tired he didn't actually feel sleepy anymore. It was an odd situation to be in, yes, and an incredibly irritating one. The more he tossed and turned, and the more he told himself off for not sleeping, the more he couldn't sleep. Images of the final battle were flipping through his mind at amazing speeds, the most prominent one being one of a bushy haired girl...

So in the end, he got up, and walked down the stairs into the common room. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he half hoped that she'd be down there, waiting, waiting for him, and that when she spotted him walking down the staircase, she'd call his name, run towards him, and be swept up into his arms.

Everything, of course, would be in slow motion.

This didn't happen, of course. Just like the visions of her bursting into his dormitory, where she would loudly and unashamedly proclaim her love for him, after which they would embrace, kiss, and then fall backwards onto the bed and...

That particular vision was one reason why he couldn't sleep. Actually, that was probably the whole reason he couldn't sleep. After all, visions did sometimes come true, and he didn't want to be asleep when she burst into his room.

But she never did, and she wasn't in the common room, either. He sighed heavily, turned around to head back up to bed, and then paused. He stood undecided on the bottom step of the staircase for a moment. He couldn't sleep anyway, so he may as well sit down here, in front of the fire. Perhaps sitting down here would exhaust him enough so that he would fall asleep. Perhaps if he fell asleep on the couch, he'd wake up to find her in his arms. Perhaps he'd wake up to her telling him she loved him.

Besides, it was much less stuffy down here than it was in the dormitory. He had the feeling that no one else was asleep in the dormitory, though Harry was doing a rather good impression of being asleep. He had the deep heavy breathing absolutely perfected, Ron thought, and the occasional murmur that wasn't quite talking in his sleep, but more a sign of a contented dream.

It was just, he knew Harry, and he didn't know how, but he could just tell he wasn't asleep. Besides, how could Harry be having contented dreams, after all that had happened? It was just impossible.

He took a seat in his favourite armchair by the dying fire. He watched the few remaining flames dance, casting distorted shadows in the darkened room. He spared this a passing thought – he had rarely been in the common room when it was dark. He wondered if it were the house elves that lit the lamps, fires and chandeliers each morning, and then blew them out at night. And then he thought for a while about the house elves – were they all right? Had any of them died? What of Kreacher?

He had been sitting in front of the fire for at least half an hour – and in Ron's opinion, that was being rather generous - before he decided that he couldn't sleep down here anymore than he could sleep in his own bed upstairs. He tossed and turned a few more times, groaned, swore, pummelled the cushions under his head a few times in a vain hope of trying to make them vaguely more comfortable, and then gave up. He stood up, aimed a kick at the lounge, and then headed towards the staircase.

When he was just shy of halfway there, however, he heard a curious, familiar-sounding moan come from a lounge in the far corner – if you could call it that, though, because it was, well, in a round tower.

His heart skipped a few beats as he rubbed the sleep, well, lack of sleep from his eyes. He walked timidly towards the lounge, and grinned widely when he saw a head of brown hair raise itself from the cushion it was resting on.

'Hello,' he said softly when he'd reached her, bending down so that his head was level with hers. 'What are you doing down here?'

'Couldn't sleep,' she yawned widely. 'What about you?'

'The same.'

There was silence for a while, as they both smiled shyly. Ron didn't know why he was so much more nervous now than he had been right after the kiss. It was probably something to do with adrenaline, he decided. Or something like it.

Hermione started shivering, and he suddenly realised how chilly it was over this side of the common room. 'Come and sit in front of the fire,' he told her. 'It's much warmer.'

Hermione smiled and sat up, and then took the hand he offered her, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. 'I didn't think I'd fall asleep,' she said, stifling a yawn with her free hand. 'And then the next thing I know, I was waking up and you were crossing the room.'

Ron smiled nervously at her. 'I was just about to give up hope of sleeping down here. I'd decided I was going to bed when I saw you.'

'Oh,' Hermione said, pulling her hand from his. 'Don't let me keep you from your bed, it's a ridiculous hour.'

Ron laughed as he reached for her hand again. 'Don't be stupid. Come on, I'd much rather sit here with you than be asleep.'

He led her to the lounge he'd been trying to sleep on previously, generously offering her the side closest to the fire that was by now a few pathetic embers.

She smiled at him gratefully, and took a seat, smoothing out her pyjamas as she did.

'How are you feeling?' she asked him softly. 'Are you... well...'

Ron smiled slightly when she trailed off. 'I'm alright,' he told her. 'I don't know... I'm feeling okay. How about you?'

'I'm okay,' Hermione nodded, and then immediately shook her head. 'No, well, I don't know, I just can't stop thinking about everything that happened. It's just so... awful.'

Ron smiled sympathetically as he pulled her to him in a sort of awkward hug. 'You'll be okay,' he murmured, patting her back. 'Did you want to talk about it?'

'Yeah,' Hermione sighed, and then looked around. 'Well, actually, could we... go somewhere more private?'

'Private?' Ron asked with raised brows. 'Yeah, yeah of course. Er, I know just the place. Come on.' He offered her a hand to help her to her feet, and then began to lead her towards the portrait hole.

'Ron, where are we going? I just meant... Ron?'

'Don't worry,' Ron assured her. 'This'll be the perfect place.'

Hermione raised her eyebrows sceptically, but said nothing. With a roll of her eyes, she allowed herself to be led out of the common room and into the unknown.

He'd taken her on a most bizarre route before he finally slowed; grinning at her when he caught sight of her apprehensive face. 'Don't worry!' he said with a light, friendly nudge to her shoulder. 'I haven't taken you anywhere awful.'

'Oh, well that's reassuring,' Hermione muttered, rolling her eyes. Ron glared admonishingly at her before motioning out of the open window they were standing before.

'Shall I go first? Or do you want to?'

Hermione looked horrified. 'You... what? Ron!'

Ron grinned pleadingly at her. 'Please?'

He hoped she couldn't resist the puppy-dog face. Very few girls could. He decided to lay it on extra thick with Hermione; his bottom lip pouted even further than usual, his eyebrows furrowed and twitching, and his nose scrunched up.

It just happened that Hermione Granger was one of them.

'I'm not going out there,' she said stubbornly, her arms crossed very tightly across her chest.

'It's seriously no big deal. All you have to do is – oh, look, do you want me to go first?'

'You can't seriously be thinking of going out there! Where do you plan on going after you get out of the window?'

Ron grinned at her. 'Watch.'

He climbed expertly onto the windowsill, holding onto the top of the frame to keep his balance. Then, pulling on the frame, he stood up, and twisted his upper body around, slowly turning his feet so that his whole body was facing the same direction. He stepped sidewards, onto a tree-trunk that must have been wedged into the building by a giant, and then up onto another tree trunk slightly higher than the first. Then, bouncing the heels of his hands on the edge of the roof, testing its resistance, he hoisted himself up onto the roof. This was a good section of the castle to lie on, because the roof was only very slightly slanted. They weren't in any danger of slipping off whatsoever.

Ron rolled onto his stomach and spun around until his head was hanging over the edge and he was looking down at Hermione.

'See?' he said brightly. 'Come on, it's not that hard. I'll help you.'

Hermione scrunched up her face, and then apparently came to a decision. 'Okay,' she said reluctantly. 'But if I die, I'm going to kill you.'

Ron grinned. 'I think if you die, a lot of people are going to kill me. You may have to get in line.'

Hermione ignored him, and experimentally lifted her foot onto the windowsill.

'Right,' said Ron. 'And now hold firmly onto the window frame, and lift your other leg.'

Hermione clenched her eyes closed, and took a deep breath. Then, quickly, as though she was trying to do it before she lost her nerve, she lifted the other foot and placed it right next to the first one.

Ron would have done a dance, if he weren't on a roof. Instead, he settled for cheering.

'Good job!' he said. 'Okay, now you've got to stand up.'

Hermione nodded, and slowly – very, very slowly – stood up. Her arms shaking only slightly, she, as Ron had done before her, turned around, so that her whole body was facing the wall.

'Do you want me to hold your hands?' Ron asked. 'So that you don't fall.'

Hermione shook her head. 'No, I can do it,' she told him. She only slightly hesitantly stepped onto the first tree trunk, and then even more confidently onto the second, and then clambered onto the roof. She lay down on her back, gazing up at the stars. Ron crawled over to her, and lay down next to her.

'It's a beautiful night,' Hermione said softly, pointing at the clear sky. 'It seems fitting, in a way.'

'I know,' Ron said. 'It's why I wanted to bring you here. A nicer place to talk than the common room, don't you think?'

Hermione smiled, and then nodded slightly. 'It is.'

There was silence for a while, silence that started out companionable, and then became somewhat awkward.

'It was rather eventful, last night,' Ron offered, but Hermione made no comment, other than to murmur her agreement. It seemed as though she'd decided it was all up to him now. She'd made the first move, and he could go with it or not.

But dear Merlin, what was he to say?

'I'm glad you're alright,' he decided to begin with, taking her hand in his and entwining her fingers between his own before placing his hand and hers on his chest.

Hermione rolled over and rested her head in the space between his shoulder and his head. 'I'm glad you're alright as well,' she said quietly.

Ron's heart began to beat faster – much, much faster – and he took a deep, quivering breath. Should he say it? Should he breach the subject? She had just responded to the other move he made, so should he try another?

Deciding to say nothing for the moment, he moved his other hand, and began to stroke her hair. She murmured again, snuggling into his further. Ron just barely contained a gasp of shock. He couldn't, however, contain the twitching of his hand, a fact that Hermione picked up on.

She chuckled, stroked his hand that was holding hers, and then snuggled into him a little further, resting her knee against his leg. Ron decided that the time to act was now. He'd never get another opportunity like this, never in a million years. If he didn't act now, she'd be likely to hate him for the rest of his life, simply for being such a coward.

'There's one part of the battle I think of most,' he said softly, so softly that he wondered if she could hear him.

'And what would that part be?' she asked coyly. Apparently she did hear him.

'Well,' Ron said, untangling himself from Hermione, and propping himself up so that he was looking down at her, 'the part where we did this.'

Ron couldn't tell you how long the kiss lasted; only that it was undoubtedly the second best kiss he had ever had in his life. The best, of course, had been the first one between Hermione and him. This one, much like the first, left him gasping.

'Wow,' Ron said once he'd regained his breath. 'Wow.'

He rolled onto his back, his heart rate still rather fast. He waited for Hermione to say something, but, inexplicably, she did not. It was something that hurt quite a bit.

'Aren't you going to say something?' he asked impatiently, and a little harshly. 'Or are you just going to lie there and make me figure out everything?'

'No,' Hermione said. 'What do you want me to say? I thought my actions spoke for themselves, really. I kissed you before, and I kissed you back then. Is there anything unclear about that?'

Ron let out a frustrated groan. 'You could just say it, you know. You could just tell me what you feel. Are we just going to keep kissing one another, but never telling each other what we really feel? Is that what this is going to be?'

'No,' said Hermione angrily. 'No, I was hoping we'd get around to that, but obviously we won't even get that far, because you're being so... so... irritating, as usual!'

'Well if I'm being so irritating, why don't you just leave!'

'Fine,' said Hermione angrily. 'Fine!'

With that, she got up and stalked to the edge of the roof. Suddenly, she began to wobble dangerously. Ron pushed himself to his knees and lunged for her, catching her just in time.

His heart beating rapidly, he brought her back to where they'd just been laying, and lay her down again, smoothing her hair away from her face.

'Oh, Merlin,' he kept on saying. 'Oh, Merlin.'

Hermione seemed unable to say anything.

'I'm sorry,' Ron said softly, his hands still playing slightly with her hair. 'Merlin, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for things to go this way.'

Hermione swallowed, and then met his eye. 'I'm sorry, too,' she said quietly. 'I didn't mean to say that you were irritating, and I shouldn't have been so... stubborn. I'm sorry.'

Ron smiled down at her. 'Shall we begin again?'

Hermione smirked at him. 'What does "begin again" mean, exactly?'

Ron laughed, and then shifted so that he was sitting next to her, instead of leaning over her. He pulled her up, so that she was sitting as well, and then shifted again so that he was behind her, his legs around her. Gathering her hair, he moved it out of the way, and then pressed a soft kiss to her neck.

'I like you.'

Hermione grinned. 'I like you, too.'

'Oh, good,' Ron said. 'I'm glad we got that out of the way. Do you want to go out with me?'

Hermione laughed. 'Yes, I'd like that very much.'

'Oh, good,' Ron said again simply, before falling silent.

It was different, now, Ron thought. She was his girlfriend, now. Before they had just been best friends, and then they had been best friends who liked each other, and then they had been best friends who had gone on a mission, a quest, if you will, together, and who had acted, well, quite intimately towards one another, though they'd never done anything like kissing, or further. But now they were boyfriend and girlfriend, and it suddenly hit Ron just how different that was, just how much progress it was.

And then Ron began to panic. Exactly how was he to act, with Hermione as his girlfriend? He didn't want things to turn out the way that they had with Lavender, that was for sure. And he couldn't treat Hermione that way, because, well, it was all well and fine with Lavender, but he was quite sure that Hermione would like to talk more often than kiss. And he was fine with that, of course he was, it was, well, he was quite inexperienced when it came to proper relationships.

Not that he would ever tell Lavender they didn't have a proper relationship. It was just, well, a little more of the physical side than the emotional side. A rather lot more, actually.

Hermione laughed softly, and leant back into him. 'Did you want to get back to the kissing part, now?' she asked. 'I've decided that it's my favourite thing in the world, now, and we haven't done nearly enough for the amount of time I've wanted to kiss you.'

Ron's mouth went dry. He choked a little, and then looked at her in amazement. Deciding to do away with words, for the time being, he put his arms around her, and pressed his lips to hers.

It was only after he had remembered that they were on the roof, and as such, had better be careful that he stopped kissing her. He lay down, pulling her with him, not wanting to lose contact with her just yet.

'I've liked you for years, did you know that?' Ron said softly. 'I didn't realise it for awhile, but when I did, it came as the biggest shock.'

Far from getting offended at this, Hermione laughed. 'I've liked you for years as well. And when I figured it out, I was so shocked as well. I never thought that, well, I'd like someone like you. I thought it would be someone who was, well, quiet, studious, smart, not, well, you.'

'I should have gone out with you, instead of Lavender, last year. I was just so... jealous after I found out you'd snogged Krum.'

'Oh,' said Hermione in surprise. 'Is that why you started to ignore me? I was so confused.' She punched him. 'You git!'

'Ow,' Ron complained, rubbing his arm where she'd hit him. 'Yeah, it was when Harry and I found Dean and Ginny kissing, and we started to yell at each other, and then she started to tease me about never kissing anyone, and how Harry'd kissed Cho, and you'd kissed Krum.'

'Was that why you went out with Lavender, too? Because I kissed Krum?'

Ron nodded, shamefacedly. 'Yeah, well, I was just so angry and upset, and she was sort of just... there. And she was being really obvious, well, really, really obvious, because I picked up on it.'

Hermione sniggered, and then stopped when Ron glared at her. 'Sorry,' she said. 'It's just...' she trailed off. 'Er, yeah, sorry.'

'Anyway, that's all behind us now, isn't it?' Ron said. 'We're together now.'

Hermione smiled, and leant back into him. Ron slipped his arms around her waist, and pulled her close.

It was later – much later – before they got back to the common room. They'd done nothing else but talk, and, of course, kiss occasionally, but they were both completely exhausted. The events of the past few days, and their almost complete lack of sleep were catching up to them, and they both just wanted to sleep.

Hermione made to go up to the girls' dormitory, but Ron stopped her. 'Look, I don't know if I can sleep without you, tonight,' he said to her. 'And of course we wouldn't be doing anything but sleeping, and I'm too tired, anyway, but please? Just for tonight?'

Hermione hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, smiling. 'Of course,' she said.

'Brilliant,' Ron whispered, looking at her intently enough to raise a faint blush from her cheeks. He smiled at her, and then took her hand, pulling her up the stairs, and into his room.

It was a while before he became aware of the whispers and chuckles in the room. They hadn't woken him, he'd just slowly drifted awake, but they were becoming more and more discernable as time went on.

'Harry, Harry, come and look at this!'

'Oi Dean, get up, have a peek at this!'

'What're you talking about Neville – Oh dear Merlin!'

'Did you know about this, Harry? When did this happen?'

'I reckon he did – I mean look at that smirk on his face!'

'Here, chuck us that camera, we'll need proof of this.'

'Look at that, who would've thought?'

'Bugger this, I can't believe I lost.'

'Cheers, Dean, I could do with ten galleons.'

'Where'd you say that camera was?'

'In the drawers...'

'Look, I'm certain it's not.'

'Oh, it might be over there?'

'No, it's not...'

'Merlin, Seamus, what happened to my camera?'

'I didn't touch it, I swear!'

'Shut up, they're waking up!'

'Pipe down, everyone, we need this photo!'

'Here, do you think I'd be able to get off? I mean technically...'

'Belt up!'

'There's no way I'm letting you off.'

'Oh, but come on, technically...'

'I don't give a rat's arse about technically, I want my bloody gold!'

'If everyone doesn't shut up now, I swear to Merlin I'll shove my wand through your eye!'

There was a moment of shocked silence.

'A little testy, did you miss your beauty sleep?'

There was a bright flash, and Ron sneezed. He opened his eyes, blinking away the stars, to see Seamus, Harry, Dean and Neville gaping at him, Seamus complete with camera in hand.

'What the...' he grunted sleepily. 'Do you want to bugger off?'

'No,' said Harry. 'This is an interesting development.'

Seamus, Dean and Neville sniggered.

'What are you talking about?' Ron asked confused.

Dean and Harry exchanged amused glances. 'Ron, you're an idiot.'


Something next to him murmured, and then stretched their arm over his chest, snuggling deeper into him, and the warmth he provided.

Suddenly it hit Ron. Hermione was sleeping next to him. Hermione was sleeping with him. In his bed. Hermione was hugging him. Hermione had kissed him. Hermione was going out with him.

He shot a grin at the others as he placed his hand on her arm, giving it a rub. 'Morning.'

Dean and Harry shared another amused glance, and then sniggered.

'We'll leave you two alone,' Seamus chortled. 'But keep it down, or at least cast a silencing charm.'

'Oh bugger off,' Ron said, his ears going red, and they left him, still sniggering.

'What was that?' Hermione asked sleepily, nuzzling into his neck, a sensation that was blissfully wonderful.

'Nothing,' Ron murmured, turning to face her and slipping an arm around her, resting his hand on her hip bone. 'Good morning,'

'Mmm,' Hermione murmured. 'Good morning. I like waking up like this.'

Ron chuckled. 'I'd say we should do this at the burrow, but I don't know what my mum'd think.'

'Don't care,' was Hermione's not-quite-awake reply.

Ron chuckled again. 'Morning, love.'

Hermione smiled sleepily. 'I like that, too. "Love."'

Thank you for reading! Please, please review, and tell me what you think. This fits in with my other story, The Weeks After, though it is, of course, set before.

I'd also like advice for this story. In my opinion, they didn't really seem very in character. I don't really like reading/writing about Harry, Hermione or Ron, because we've already read so much about them, but I did just have this scene pop into my head and I got it down, and I wanted to post it so I could get some advice about their personalities, and anything I can improve on in that regard.

Of course any advice about my writing style, anything like that is always welcomed, as I'd like to be an author and I'm posting fanfiction in order to get better.

My story that I'm writing now (non-fanfiction) is, well, giving me a little trouble at the moment, and I'm currently in the process of rewriting it to accommodate some major plot changes, character additions and lengthening. This is just the first edit of many, I'm afraid, so I'd love some tips, constructive criticism, etc, so I can get better. Better is good!